Gardner school and Scranton School District want reserve center site

The Scranton School District will have competition for ownership of the Serrenti Memorial Army Reserve Center.

One day after the Scranton School Board voted to pursue trying to acquire the property, the director of the Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School said he wants to move the school to the Colfax Avenue property.

The Scranton Redevelopment Authority will eventually make an ownership recommendation, which will be forwarded to the military's Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for final approval. The Serrenti center closed when the new Armed Forces Reserve Center on Olyphant Avenue opened last year.

William Lazor, chairman of the authority, said he hopes the board will receive all proposals by its Nov. 7 meeting.

The Gardner school also tried to acquire the site in 2009. The authority recommended it be given to the city of Scranton, but officials have since dropped plans to convert the center into a backup location for City Hall and an emergency operations center.

Vincent Rizzo, director of the Gardner school, said the school would renovate the existing building and eventually add a structure that would house a gymnasium, science lab and other rooms. Capacity would be 225 students, a 75-student increase over the current enrollment. Total cost is expected to be about $6 million. Scranton school officials have previously discussed a plan that includes tearing down the existing center and building a new structure for an estimated $17 million.

Mr. Rizzo said discussions with lenders have started. He has also contacted the redevelopment authority, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which approved the school's original proposal.

A school adjacent to Nay Aug Park is a perfect fit with the school's framework, Mr. Rizzo said. Students regularly spend entire days at the park, having all of their classes outside. The school follows the multiple intelligences theory of Harvard University professor and Scranton native Howard Gardner, Ph.D. The naturalist intelligence involves one's ability to understand natural surroundings.

"It just seems like that property is made for us," Mr. Rizzo said. "It's part of our strategic plan to open that kind of school."

This is the first year for Gardner being a public charter school, after years of being a private, tuition-based school. School districts with students attending Gardner now fund the school.

At the Scranton School Board's meeting Tuesday night, directors unanimously approved the preparation of documents to be sent to the redevelopment authority. Board President Bob Lesh said he wants to see a new school built at the location within two years.

Directors have previously said they wanted to build a new school that would house students from the now-closed John Audubon Elementary School and students from William Prescott Elementary School.

Before the board permanently closed Audubon earlier this year because of mold, a new school was estimated at $17 million. The land would be at no cost.

Prescott is scheduled to be temporarily closed at the end of the month for a thorough cleaning and inspection for mold.

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